And so, thanks to the traffic jams strategically planted all over my bus's route to SP, almost the whole class was late for the first lesson-Organisational Management (tutorial). I met Sha on the bus, and we walked to the taxi stand (our class's regular meeting place before the first lesson)together. As we were nearing it we saw this huuuge crowd of people near the taxi stand. I thought it was just a bunch of freshies. But it turned out to be (drumroll) our class. Ok la quite lame. And so it was the perfect picture of the first day back at school, a good percentage of the class walking together into school, talking away happily.

No, the first OM tutorial did NOT change my mind about its boring-ness. The fact that we thought the lecturer's name was Phua Siew Hoon didn't help either. She turned out to be Sheila Kee (Phua Siew Hoon is her middle name). The beauty of...er...alter egos. Anyway. I am absolutely convinced that it is a totally boring module. However, I shall try my best to enjoy it to the, uh, best of my abilities and try to retain the decision-making processes and whatever other deeply boring subtopics this module plans to throw at us. Ah. To be optimistic, maybe tomorrow's first OM lecture will make me change my mind.

Probably the highlight of the class was when the lecturer insisted requested that those in our class without christian names got themselves one. And so Mei Hui became Nancy (her face was a picture), Jia Ying became Alice, and Jia Hui is henceforth known as Mary. Dammit u guys, stop mocking the name Mary. It also happens to be my mother's name!

And then the two-hour tutorial was shortened into a one-hour one (benefits of the first "honeymoon" week), and so Mary came up with this brilliant adventurous idea that we should venture all the way to Foodcourt 1 since our next class was two hours away.

We stopped at Foodcourt 2. Everyone was too tired and hot except Sharina ("Go la! So near already. We're already at Foodcourt 2 anyway.). Haha next time okay?

So Mac's it was but for some reason I ate my egg mcmuffin meal at the same speed as I would eat pebbles.

After we'd filled up our stomachs with pebbles-oops-greasy fried food, we went to establish diplomatic relations with DMC 1a/02, which Mary Aizat and Ryan had taken during the FOP.

So started the long walk back to SB from FC 2. It was swelteringly hot weather, too. And then, when we finally got to SB, poor Jia Hui discovered that she'd left her wallet in FC 2. So reluctantly she walked back with Ryan in search of it while the rest of us headed to the venue of the next class to wait around for the tutorial to start.

Consumer Behaviour. Hmm. More interesting than OM, I would say. But the lecturer has a LOT of questions. And he loves to change marker pen colours. Teehee. And he should seriously get anti-squeak markers. Mr Ong (the lecturer) also told us that we were going to do a...cross-module project with Mass Media Research (MMR), which is quite eyebrow-raising if you think about it because it means if you screw the project (touch woood), u screw your marks for two modules.

And then was the long-awaited (haha) MMR lecture. 3 overzealous students (Cheryl Tan, Grace and I) were seen sitting in the 2nd row of the lecture theatre in a vain attempt to show our support for our favourite lecturer on her first lecture to us. I tell you, it is like watching a movie on the first row. Neck-straining. And oops, I shall stop here on my comments on the lecture due to the tendency of said lecturer to quote this author's blog during the lecture to make an...hmm...important point =p .

Thus ended a most exciting first day of school for me. Thank you and have a nice day (pardon me, it is 1.12 am and this author is slightly sleep-deprived).

Welp. School's reopening in, er, 3 days. Whoopee or boo hoo, you decide.

Let's play the semesterly what-May-thinks-our-new-modules-are-about guessing game, shall we?

Consumer Behaviour: Marketing+Advertising? The title sounds sneakily interesting but it could actually be really boring like Marketing (No Sharina, you are not allowed to defend your favourite module because nobody agrees with you =p). Well, let's just hope it's able to hold our interest for one whole semester without making us harbour thoughts of burning the notes/textbook 3 weeks into the module.

Legal System and Contracts: Boo. Law's boring. How interesting could this get. Even the title fails to hold my interest. Upside: After this module, we'll be less likely to be cheated by phony contracts and we'll pay a lot more attention to ze fine print =) .

Mass Media Research: Hahaahahaha >=D The title says it all. Research. Hmm. Long hours at the computer? Lots of brain power usage? Graphs statistics figures? Oh come now. It'll be fun! =D

Feature Writing: I just hope Rajan won't slam my writing =( . We had a taste of this in Creative Comm already. It should be quite enjoyable. Even more interesting than News Writing, I hope? And maybe we really will get swept off our feet by dear Rajan.

Digital Media Applications: Duh. Advanced DVPA. I will finally find out exactly what on earth FinalCut Pro does. Yay Loh Loh! Please be an extra in more shows =p !

Organisational Management: I don't even want to start on this one =( . It sounds worse than Legal System and Contracts. BORING. I hope my mind will be changed by the end of the first tutorial. Which is first thing on Monday morning.

General Elective Module-Introduction to Astro Navigation: BAH. Star charts? Research? Predict your own future by looking at the, uh, alignment of the planets? Let's hope it actually helps. Let me know if Understanding Weather is any less rubbish-y, eh? Hmm. Maybe the position of Saturn relative to Jupiter is making me say nasty things about this module before I even start on it.

Can't wait for school to start =) . Meanwhile, shall enjoy the last few days of holidays-freedom, sleeping late and waking up even later. Shall at the same time embrace the thought of looser wallets (during the holidays, I spend more money).

In all the "excitement" recently I forgot to feature yummiegummy's birthday present for me!

"You asked for a kangaroo, so I bought you two!"-Sarah



Cuteness yes? Thanks Sarah! =D

Today was an eventful day.

BK and I had agreed to meet at Junction 8 at 1 pm for lunch. So at 12.25 pm I set off from my house and decided to take the bus 13 from 1 bus stop down my house as I thought it'd reach Junction 8 faster than the route I usually take. I seldom take 13, and guess what.

At 1.05 when I was still on the bus, I was wondering where the bus was taking me. It certainly didn't look like it was heading towards Bishan. I was already in Potong Pasir.

And then I realised that I'd taken the wrong bus direction. Yet again. The last time I took 105 towards Jurong East when I wanted to go home. I ended up reaching home two hours later because I reached JE interchange, panicked, and took the MRT.

So anyway. I sat on the bus, panicking, wondering what to do because each bus stop it stopped at didn't seem to have a corresponding bus stop opposite which could take me back to Bishan. And then BK msged me and asked if I would mind going to Changi Airport for lunch instead because she'd just got news that her HK friend would be arriving in Singapore today.

And so, lucky me realised that the bus would eventually reach Eunos MRT station, so I agreed to BK's suggestion. And ta daa...one MRT trip later, I found myself in Changi Airport (and with negative ez-link card value again).

After a scrumptious lunch (sounds like lower sec sch compo), we took the Skytrain to T1 to wait for her friend. At Belt 16, she met her (Singaporean) friend, who was also waiting for the HK friend. Well eventually, the friend arrived with other students from CityU, Hong Kong, and I stood there grinning stupidly while they talked among themselves. They have ang moh accented English. And BK says that they dun understand our English because of our Singaporean accent. So communication is a bit of a problem since we dunno Cantonese and their Chinese isn't fluent.

They looked like really interesting people.

After today's experience, I realised that it can be really exciting waiting for a friend's arrival at the airport. I could imagine how thrilled BK's HK friend must have felt when she arrived at the airport, greeted by friendly faces.

On the bus out of Changi Airport, when the bus was travelling on the stretch of road near the airport, I thought of how I always felt when I returned from overseas. The Well-It's-been-great-but-home-is-still-the-best feeling. Ah. The things money can't buy.

Hi, it's me again, your friendly sleep-deprived blogger. I am still sleep-deprived because one of the facilitators smsed me saying that she STILL hadn't got the freshies list (super responsible. I like. Unless it interferes with my sleep.). So, as I have this habit of switching on my handphone the moment I open my eyes (today it was at 10 a.m) to check the time, I saw the message she'd sent at 1.40 a.m. and decided that I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep until I sent the list again.

Today is the "off day" for the FOP organising committee. I'd planned to sleep until 12 pm, having not had enough sleep for the past few days. The moment I close my eyes, my mind starts buzzing, thinking about the stuff that has not been done, and won't go to sleep. It is like during project "rush hour", when everyone is rushing to meet the deadlines.

Oh well. Enough about sleep deprivation. Let's talk about what yours truly has been up to for the past few days.

Thursday

Thursday was manual labour day. We walked from SB to the building opposite the main library (if you're not in SP, i can tell you that that is quite a long distance) to collect the stuff our school's corporate communications department had left for our orientation goodie bags. There were a hundred and ninety over packages of SP instant noodles (each package had 3 packets of SP noodles. YES SP has our own instant noodle!), 70+ boxes of SP 40th anniversary books written by Sumiko Tan (each box was 5 kg and contained 10 books). This is starting to sound like a math problem.

Our organising committee has only 2 guys. And they didn't turn up on that day. So me, Grace, Cheryl (Tan), Howie (from 04) and Ellse (also from 04) had quite a hard time transporting those heavy boxes. We'd planned to load them on a trolley and push them all the way back to SB, but decided that it was impossible (SP is ridiculously full of slopes) and might also take forever. Then we started panicking. How can five girls transport 70+ 5 kg boxes (nevermind the SP noodles)from literally one end of the school to another?

You would never have guessed who came to the rescue. In our moment of desperation, Grace called Rajan (yes, our IPRA lecturer and also the one who gave our class a horrible, horrible first impression and could-be-better second impressions) and he actually agreed straightaway to drive his Mercedes down to that building and help us transport the goods/cargo. I was so impressed I almost promised him to get an A for Feature Writing (which he will be teaching us next semester) straightaway. When we were loitering around inside the building, Cheryl also introduced me to Mr Ong Tiong Hui, a lecturer who will be teaching us next semester. He appears to be quite nice.

It took quite a lot of trips on the Merc, but we finally managed to get all the boxes to the SB Foyer, with the help of 2 guys from the SB Club unloading at the SB end and us five girls plus Grace's 2 male friends at the other end. It was exhausting manual work. My forearms still ache.

I have a much better impression of Rajan now. He even helped us load and unload some of the boxes. And let's just say that my father would have had us murdered if it were his car because as much as we tried to be gentle with the car boot, we were also trying to be efficient at the same time. So there was some amount of banging. And Cheryl and Grace embarked on this Let's-Help-Rajan-Save-Petrol expedition and decided to push a trolleyfull of boxes all the way to SB themselves. Apparently they got stuck on some slope somewhere and Rajan had to save them in the end anyway. Hahahaha =p . Wish I'd been there.

At the end of the day I found that my beloved Adidas shoes were spoilt. I'd just been thinking about how much I liked them that morning, too. =(

Friday

On Friday there was yet more manual labour to be done as we had to transport the boxes from the SB foyer to T19339, which had been booked to pack the goodie bags and store the sponsored "goodies". It was much easier this time round as the two male members of our committee turned up, and it was a much shorter distance as we only had to load the boxes onto the cart and take the lift.

Singtel was supposed to send the goodie bags, notebooks and pens which they'd agreed to sponsor at 10 am. In the end, they arrived at 5.30 pm. But the uncle who delivered them was very nice. He is more gentlemanly than most guys I know and didn't even allow Howie and I to carry three light boxes of pens in our arms. He offered us his little cart and asked us to use that to carry the boxes. So nice. And he also gave us some additional stuff that was lying around in his van. Got Incredibles CD case. Super cute.

Then we started packing the goodie bags. By the way the room which we were packing in is our econs tutorial room. It felt kinda weird because I kept imagining Lusia supervising our packing. Scary.

I can tell you that it wasn't easy getting all those sponsored items from the various companies. Howie was on them for almost a week, calling everyday and stuff. There's Haagen Daz vouchers, CD folders from Pearson Education (a publishing company), a bikini (this will be given out as a prize), SP noodles, the anniversary books, Jimmy Neutron notebooks, Post-it pads and pens courtesy of Singtel, Businessweek and SP's newspaper Fullstop. But we have a shortage of everything except the Fullstop, Businessweek and the stuff Singtel provided, so a number of suay freshmen will not get all the stuff. The books are mouldy anyway, and the SP noodles stopped looking appetising after I'd packed the 50th packet. And we came up with some sort of "compensation system" e.g. those who do not get books will get 2 packets of SP noodles instead of one.

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Busy busy, huh. Oh yes-CLASS FACS READING THIS PLEASE REMEMBER TO CHECK YOUR EMAIL. I HAVE ALREADY SENT THE FRESHIES LIST TO YOU ALL. START CALLING THE FRESHIES!!! =)

I will be glad when the whole orientation is over on Thursday. And then it will be time to prepare for school reopening. And then? Another year of fun, laughter and crazy project deadlines to meet, of course. What more could one ask for?

I really really want to blog about today. But I have to wake up at 8 plus am tomorrow because I have to be in school by 10 am. =( Tomorrow then, I guess. THIS IS A POINTLESS POST. BUT IT WILL NOT REMAIN POINTLESS FOR LONG. WHEN I UPDATE IT IT WILL BE POINTLESS NO MORE.

*Pointless Post brought to you by Combination of Stress and Sleep Deprivation Pte Ltd*

P.S The freshmen had better bloody keep their complaints about the orientation programme out of my earshot.

My fifteen-year-old brother Kenneth just asked me what he should buy for his best friend's birthday present.

I replied "You forgot my birthday."

Ken: Huh? (he hadn't heard)

Me: I don't see you facing the same problem for my present. (seeing as he hadn't got one)

Ken: *silence* Ok lor...I think myself lor (which in Ken-speak means "I'm just trying to cover up my embarrassment")

I know that at our age we normally consider friends as more important than family. But me, I've never missed any of HIS birthdays. I always approached June 25th with a gift in hand. And he? He usually gave it one day late, if at all. But I never really minded that much because his gifts were always an exhibit of his creativeness. I always enjoyed receiving his gifts. But this year, this year he forgot altogether. Not even a "Happy Birthday" greeting. I dunno what this means. In light of tonight's event, I think it might mean that he is officially in the love-friends-screw-family phase. Am I overreacting? It's just that I love him so much and I kinda expect a reciprocation. I know you can't measure love on a bday gift, but I KNOW for a fact that this year he really didn't bother. We always were the closest to each other in the family. Every year, even if he (and he usually does) forgot to get gifts for my mum's, dad's, and Everett's bdays, he would at least remember mine.

I remember that there was a year (maybe it was last year, can't remember) when I thought he'd forgotten. But at night he handed me a Hallmark card. I remember the words he'd written in it-"And remember, I love you!"(the reason why he made it sound so corny was to hide the mushiness in those precious three words). It was the first time I was totally satisfied with just a card. (Yeah, I know all that jazz about "it's the thought that counts". But let's face it, everyone has a material streak in them. Wouldn't you be happier with, say, a $10 card as compared to a $5 one? If the $10 one looked twice as good? I'm not saying you wouldn't be happy with a $5 one. I'm just saying you might be happiER with a $10 one.) I knew how much Hallmark cards cost and I was touched that even in his eternally broke financial status, he'd still made sure he got a Hallmark one.

And then there was the other year (at least 2 years ago). It was the one in which he'd given me my gift on the correct day (and not one day later) because he'd thought it was the day before. Anyway. It was the sweetest gift he'd ever given me. It was this little doggie plushie which he'd bought from a shop at Serangoon Interchange. It's really really cute and I like it a lot. It's still on my bed. It still looks like new. Equally sweet was the way he'd presented it to me. It was in a roundish, transparent plastic cylinder box (which I still have). And on top of the box, he'd cut out a piece of paper in a cloud shape and written something along the lines of "I've come all the way from outer space. Open me quick!". Kindly ignore the fact that the dog does not look even vaguely space alien-like. He made me throw away that cloud-shaped piece of paper when he found out that I still kept it after so long ("It's so lame!"). But I think I hid it somewhere.

I like to think Ken and I have a really special bond. We're still on talking terms despite the both of us being teenagers and from opposite genders (i believe it is deemed uncool for teenagers to talk to their siblings in a civil manner, especially if they are of the opposite sex). Heck, we even used to have heart-to-heart talks late at night (no time for that now. and/or maybe he prefers to do it with his mates now.). And he can be really really sweet when he wants to and can be bothered to (as the above paragraphs might have proven to you. Need a third example? He was trying to get us 3 siblings together to plan a Mothers' Day surprise. As well as a Mum's Birthday Surprise. Sadly they didn't take off.) Somebody once told me that relationships were all about "managing expectations". Golden words that ring true. I expected him to remember, he didn't. Relationship goes down as a result. Sometimes I think life might be easier without human expectations? Spare the hurt, spare the pain.

I dunno if I was overreacting just now when we had that conversation. An uncomfortable silence ensued and I kinda regretted it when I thought about how, just 10 minutes ago, he'd been happily enthusing about some funny Indiana Jones movie he'd seen earlier that day (see? he still tells me about his day). And after we'd had our conversation, I could tell he'd been affected by it too cos he was snapping at my mum when she asked why he wasn't studying for his exam the next day. Said something like "u don't understand."

I'm not even really mad at him. I'm more hurt than mad. Guess even I didn't really realise that I was still hurt about him forgetting my birthday after like 2 weeks. You know what they say about the one you love most being the one who hurts you most. I sometimes use that phrase to comfort myself and Ken whenever I got really mad at my parents for playing favourites. Now I realise that it applies to me, too. Even Everett managed a damn UHU Glue stick! And Orange Tic-tacs! My love is wasted on him, man. Nothing I can do about it but bitch on my blog, though. I'm over it now, I guess. Now that I've let it out. Dunno what's come over me these few days. Slightest things set off the waterworks. PMS. Best excuse in the world if you're a woman.

Oh well. I'm sure we'll be okay again tomorrow. I might even help him think about what he should get for his best friend. To prove that I still am the not-that-petty sister he knew, and will always know. Though Heaven knows I know zilch about what to buy for guys. But that's another thing altogether, eh?

What separates a good friend from a great friend? Sighh...I really dunno. Am I being a good enough friend? What would a great friend do in my position? Am I doing enough? Have I done enough? The answer will come...

I had a beautiful dream last night. It was so real that I couldn't believe it was a dream when I woke up. You were back to your old self. Recovered. Resurrected. Whatever you'd like to call it. You weren't afraid of falling again. You did it. You did it. I was so proud of you. We were so happy. In the dream, I felt happiness in its purest form. The spirit-lifting, bubble of happiness in your heart bursting and just wanna laugh and laugh forever and ever kind of happiness. The sort of happiness that makes you all giddy and excited, but in a delightful way. How often do you get that even in a dream? Now I realise how much I really want to see you pick yourself up. How much we all want to see your victory. Can it come true? I know you're trying. I know. I'm waiting for that day. It will come. It will come, you hear? And when it comes, we will all laugh together at these sappy entries I seem to be writing so often nowadays.

Believe.

Hehehe...Shall start from the beginning. Woke up at 10.21 am by handphone alarm, but decided that there was no point waking up so early and anyway I felt like lazing in bed for a while more. So I set it to ring at 10.51 am (in case you're thinking why the times are so weird, my hp's clock is 9 minutes fast). Went to school at 12.30 pm to meet Cheryl for lunch at McDonald's. Then we took a bus two stops down to SB (the depths of laziness i drop to when I find out that I have not gained any weight). Slacked around in the DMS (I love the DMS. I love the couch and the nice cushy seats. I hate the Macs which always hang on me, though.) while Cheryl settled some yearbook stuff with the yearbook committee. Then Grace came, and we had our Freshmen Orientation Programme organisation committee (which I found myself in because 1. They are shorthanded and Grace is the chairman, so I decided to be pal. and 2. All I ever do at home is sleep. I am sleeping so much it's scaring me.) meeting at the BizIT library after checking our timetables (it's out!!!) and screaming. Haha.

For once the librarians didn't bat an eyelid when we failed to keep the decibels at "pin-drop" level. I was a little disheartened to find that my favourite pregnant librarian, Chern Chern (or Chern squared, as affectionately nicknamed by Aizat =p), wasn't there. Oh well life goes on.

So. Had the meeting, and then left for Orchard (with Cheryl and Grace in tow). Went to Borders, then Takashimaya for dinner. We somehow then found ourselves in HMV, and I remembered that I wanted to check out that local singer, Corrinne May's album 'cos I'd heard one of her songs on 93.3 FM and another on Chase (ch5 programme), and they were pretty good. I told Cheryl and Grace of my intention and Grace was interested too. So we hunted for her album, then hunted for a listening station. We found it, and the three of us stood around, somehow managing to share one pair of headphones. Don't ask how. It was quite a sight, haha.

After a while Grace decided to let me have the headphones (Cheryl had already wandered off somewhere, her attention span wasted.), and so I stood there, listening happily. The song finished, and I put the headphones down. Cheryl popped up beside me, and I asked her "Where's Grace?" Then I spotted her at the cashier. Cheryl immediately said "She's buying something. Don't care about her la." I wondered why she sounded so hurried and why she sounded pissed about Grace buying something. We wandered to some other shelf of cds, and then Cheryl said "I think she's enquiring about the sponsorship for the FOP." Ah. Suspicious, I thought to myself. She distinctly looked like she was queueing up to pay.

Maybe it was the way Cheryl sounded so suspicious. Maybe it was the way the whole situation reminded me of how Aizat got Jia Ying's present (he said he was going to the toilet and came back with a polo tee from Giordano's which she'd said she liked just 5 minutes ago). Maybe it was the way Grace's bag looked suspiciously rumpled (like something had been stuffed in it and closed in a hurry). And maybe I just read too many mystery novels. But I just put two and two together and started grinning to myself because I have such sweet friends. Darn, I'm too smart for my own good =p.

After browsing around for a while more at HMV, we decided to go home. We stopped at Cheryl's bus stop on the way to the MRT station, and Grace took out a HMV plastic bag and said "this is for you." I said "I KNEW IT!!!" Hahaha. Sorry guys. I could at least have acted surprised. Then I said "Oh you shouldn't have..." Grinning madly, I took the plastic bag from her. I didn't even have to look in it. I knew what was inside.





^_^ Could u have guessed???!!! THANKS GRACE AND CHERYL TAN. I LOVE IT.

It is a very good birthday present because Corrinne May really does have a very beautiful voice and I really like the song from Chase, "Save Me". Also, there's a song in the album called "The Birthday Song" (Ha! Bet you two didn't notice that!). And of course, I really wanted the album after listening to it because I could already imagine myself blasting it at home to take revenge on my brother for doing the same with his Michael Jackson albums (I only ever took revenge by repeating the song on my blog over and over again).

Thanks Cheryl Tan. Those words on your postcard were really more than good enough a present.

Thanks Grace. We've only known each other for...two months and I'm really happy we're getting on so well =) .

I grinned (naturally. not forced) so much today that my mouth muscles ache. See, my theory about any day being a birthday might just turn out to be right!

So. A nice cd in the player, nobody at home but my brother (good time for revenge muhaha), and all my mum had to say about me calling too late to say I'm not coming home for dinner was "No lunch and dinner for you tomorrow. You're gonna eat the leftovers." with a grin (read: good mood and she might not mean it) and I found out that I hadn't lost my hp (I thought I put it into my bag when I went out. Turns out I didn't.). =) What more can I ask for? Except maybe the safe return of those I care about who are overseas. Heh. Good night to all. =)

P.S Thanks, Cheryl Lee, for sounding me out about my "little" problem yesterday. It really helped. I feel less broken and troubled and stressed now =) . *hugs*

Zis is last year's christmas present from Isabel and Xue Yan, which I only received today. =p It's a Rottweiler plushie with a cute lil' scarf round its neck. I find the scarf pretty adoring, though dogs look a bit weird with scarves. Thanks XY and Bell! By the way I think I can't receive any more plushie/bear presents because I have no more space for them. I am serious. My shelves are already full, and if I put them on my bed, they'll all be on the floor the next morning if I sleep on my bed. Haha. Scarvey here (as I've decided to call this adorable very late xmas present) will have to reside on my bed, though. Good luck to it when I decide to sleep there.

Got a call from XY at around 12 pm, asking if I wanted to go out today. Conferenced for about half an hour to discuss details. Met the three of them (XY, Bell and WF) at Toa Payoh interchange at 2.30 pm. I reached at 2.25 pm, XY reached at 2.39 pm, WF reached at sometime between 2.25 and 2.39, and Isabel reached at some unearthly time after 2.39. I do believe it was 2.55 pm. Tsk tsk...why am I usually the earliest when I go out with friends? =p

Anyway we went to Bugis because XY had class there at 7 pm. Originally planned to go to Orchard. Sick of that place anyway. Had lunch, walked around, shopped around, all the usual stuff. Had fun. As usual. Haha. Then they decided to go to Swensen's. I was pretty clueless because we do not usually go to Swensen's.

We ordered an Earthquake and prawn something-or-others (freaking $7.90, that cost. For seven or eight miserable pieces of siew-mai resembling prawn fritters. Or dippers.) I do not recall ever having ordered an Earthquake before, so I was still pretty entranced (hey, it appealed to my inner child) when I saw the smoke coming out and everything. The waitress tried to light a candle on top of the salt shaker containing the dry ice, but she gave up after a while because the lighter wouldn't light up. Too cold, I guess. So she just wished me a happy birthday (Isabel told her it was my birthday) with a handshake. Customer service.

The ice cream tasted divine, for some reason. Maybe it was 'cos I was thirsty, or that I'd been craving for ice cream, or that Swensen's ice cream IS divine, or that I was sharing it with people I love. =) When the bill came, the others informed me that the meal was on them. Awww. Warm fuzzy feeling =D .

All in all, another wonderful half-a-day spent with friends. See? Life can be wonderful. I just wish some of my problems would melt away as easily as ice cream, though...

Today was such a great day. I woke up to the sound of rain drops and the feel of the wind teasing my body. It's not everyday I smile in my sleep, you know.

I decided to stop being unhappy about my 18th birthday having been so boring because 1. I'd had 20+ people celebrating it for me at the chalet already. 2. I guess the same principle of "Everyday can be Mothers' Day/Valentine's Day" can apply to birthdays too. I'll just have a real good day on some other day and tell myself it was to make up for my birthday. =) Like today. The weather was wonderful, even better than yesterday. I'll just try and be happy everyday. And in the end, some friends whom I thought had forgotten my birthday sent me testimonials a day late. Better than nothing =) .

So the most of today was spent at my maternal grandmother's place, eating buffet. My uncle (who owns a restaurant) catered most of the food. It was yummy. I ate quite a lot cos the bee hoon was scrumpeelicious (I hereby PATENT/copyright/trademark this word. Nobody else may use it except May.). Even the thought of how oily it must be didn't deter me from having second and third helpings.

Also mingled and caught up with my cousins. Don't we all love family gatherings? Though at first I sat at an all-guy table and had nothing much to contribute to their conversation about motorcycles, anime and other guy stuff. Haha.

Got home at around 8 pm, and waited for my brothers to return home from basketballing. Then we took a picture together-



and put it into the flash animation I'd made yesterday (I actually felt real good about having "completed" my Mothers' Day gift a day before. It made my birthday seem less wasted. Ideas came to me surprisingly easily and fast, too. Advantage of doing things on your birthday.). It's quite lame and everything, improved from the one I'd meant to give to her on her birthday (but decided not to as it was too horribly lame) , but she seemed to like it. Seeing as she was actually mad about something or other and was in a snappish mood before we presented it to her (my aunts had put too much red wine into her, haha, and she was hungover), but was all smiles after that. Hahaha. Yay. Mission accomplished. Happy Mothers' Day, Mummy dearest.

Oh, and Kenneth was even more excited than me about presenting the gift to her. It was such a sweet sight that I almost decided to forgive him for clean forgetting about my birthday. No such luck, haha.

It's a self-decorated star-shaped bottle (the blue wavy pattern was DIY-ed) containing M&M's from my other favourite cousin, Huiqi. Pretty. =) Thanks!

And look! I still have the handphone holder and bottle of colourful sand she gave me last year and the year before that! =D

Everett just walked into my room 15 minutes ago and said Happy Birthday to me. Guess what he gave me. I thought it would definitely be a pen. He always gives pens. But this year he decided to be more creative.



Tic tac orange and UHU Glue Stick. Glue??!!! Hahaha. I love him. Most creative present award.

Kenneth seems to have completely forgotten that it is my birthday. Oh well. No surprise anyway. He always thinks it is on 8 May. This time he might not even remember, though. There was one year when he gave his gift on the correct day, though, and that was because he thought my birthday was on 6 May. Cunt. Hahaha. My love is wasted on him =p .

Stoned in front of the computer for the whole day until at 2+ I felt sleepy and went to sleep for half an hour. Then at around 3+ my parents brought me out. I had nothing to do, so I decided to go with them. They went to someplace near Funan to look at hi-fis. Then we went to Giant. I trudged behind my parents (who were holding hands...how sad can my life get?), the picture of a bored teenager. My mum kept saying things like "Oh...there's Famous Amos. Everett loves it. Should I buy some for him?", "Oh where's the chocolate chip cake that Everett loves?" and "Aren't those the cartoon vcds that Everett likes to watch?". Sigh. Yes, okay, tell me I am too old for jealousy.

I mentioned that I wanted to go to Swensen's for dinner, but the Swensen's in the place we were at (Marina Square, I think.) was still under construction. So in the end we went to Han's.

Then my mum took a short vacation from "Everett is my world" mode and bought me Venezia ice cream to make up for not being able to dine at Swensen's. Mm...mint choc. Love it. Then we went to buy dinner for my brothers and home it was.

On the way home we passed by this church, and my father said it was my childcare centre fifteen years ago. I dunno if it was a church then, or if it has been replaced by a church. He told me that I cried every single day when brought there. Then he sighed and said how quickly the past fifteen years seemed to have passed. Yeah...time does seem to fly past sometimes. And no wonder some people think I look like a Christian. I spent half my childhood in churches.

Oh well. Will probably end my first day of being 18 years old (the most exciting birthday i've ever had) with a nice bottle of drink of the alcoholic variety. Cheers, mates.

Eighteen years old and...sitting at home swatting flies with no breakfast. Oh well. At least it is a nice breezy day. Nice day to have a birthday on. Woke up with perfectly messy out-of-bed look but stuck at home with no one to go out with. Oh well, can't complain.

To think that just a year ago I seriously thought I would be a teenager forever. I mean, I knew I would eventually grow up to be an adult and I had dreams and ambitions, but adolescence just seemed oh-so-far-away. I couldn't imagine life as a full-grown adult. And now I find myself one year closer to adulthood. Adulthood is almost staring me in the face. Hmm. Worrying, yet exciting at the same time at the thought of what lies ahead.

In the past year, I feel like I have learnt a lot of things, perhaps changed a lot, hopefully for the better.

One year ago, I had boring hair and spent time worrying about whether people would laugh at my next deeply boring new haircut. Now, I spend more time worrying about whether I have styled my hair correctly. Thanks Jia Hui, for introducing me to the world of 25 dollar "cool" haircuts. You are still my favourite online friend =p .

One year ago, I wasn't as close to Xue Yan, Wen Fang and Isabel, a bunch of really fun and loving friends. I am so glad we are closer now than ever before, and I thank you gals for the many memories and wildly fun outings we've had. I enjoy every single moment we spend together. And I look forward to creating even more of these beautiful memories.

One year ago, I hadn't met the most amazing class who actually laughed at my jokes and made me feel like I belong and increased my sense of self-worth. One year ago I only had a small bunch of like-minded peers who understood my sense of humour and appreciated it (and still do. And I still love them for that). Now, I have a whole lot more. Okay la you all already know how much I love my class already.

One year ago, I hadn't met anyone my age who could be more sarcastic than me. Then I met Aizat and Jia Hui.

One year ago, I thought I could be the most egoistic person I know. The very queen of self-praise. I also thought it was humanely impossible for bimbos and intellectuals to coexist in an individual. Then Becky entered my life. A classic example of a girl who "has it all"-a perfect balance of looks and brains, as well as a kind, kind heart.

One year ago, I hadn't met anyone who had a heart of gold beyond a b*tchy exterior. Hope you're having a good time in Australia, Sarah. You indirectly taught me an important lesson in looking beyond the surface.

One year ago, I thought boy-girl relationships were all fluffy and rainbow-y and colourful and lovely. Thank you Flora, for occasionally making me feel less bad about single-dom by telling me the various faults of men (and in particular Darxxx =p). And also for the magic words you sometimes say that work wonders for my insecurities and worries.

One year ago, I thought I had lost my partner in arguing all day, everyday, when Cheryl Lee went to JC. Then Jia Ying came along, and although she cannot replace Cheryl as our arguments are never quite the same, I can safely say that she is my best arguing partner in SP. Second only to Cheryl Lee. She is also funnier than me, dammit. And cuter. And looks more like Miss Hui. Ok I shall stop here before she starts floating away on her bloated head.

One year ago, I thought I was the only person in the whole wide world who thought potatoes were the best delicacy on the planet and that I was the best at trying to find the redeeming qualities in everyone. Thank you Sonia, for making me feel less alone and weird. Haha ;) .

One year ago, I had never had group project discussions which morphed into lesbian conversations. Thank you Sisterhood.

One year ago, I never thought I could get along well with people who were older than me by two years (not. emphasising. my. youth. =p). Thank you Cheryl and Grace, for being such good company and being such good friends.

One year ago, I never thought I could enjoy disturbing lecturers in their offices. Thanks u-know-who, for humouring me whenever I crash into your office and eat the goodies, for that A in WP (I'll get that distinction next time, you hear?), for listening to my rants.

One year ago, no member of the opposite sex had ever looked my way. Thank you Andrew, for being the first and giving me faith that not all men only have eyes for breasts, waists, thighs, high cheekbones, double eyelids, flawless complexions, botox surgery and make-up.


And to BK, Cheryl Lee, Mandy, JN, Leong, RX, Ro, Sumitha...I don't see you guys often, but I do still cherish our friendship and I thank you guys for being there when I need you. Know that you are sorely missed at times and I'm working on keeping our friendship alive.

Card with tearjerking content from Cheryl Tan. Cards from JN and Isabel, WF, XY.



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Red Converse sneakers and 37 degrees pencil box. With love from DMC 1B/02. Thanks, I know u guys were tired out from choosing the other 3 presents ; ) .



Keychain with my name on it. From Yun Ping and Su Zhen AKA Leong.



Love pearl necklace from Mandy.



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Origami hearts (folded love =p), Sly album and Pooh handphone strap from JN. I love how you always put so much effort into the presents you give =) . Your gifts exude sincerity.



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B.U.M Equipment sleeveless top, a skin for my iPod shuffle and a Winnie the Pooh cushion (which has flappy ears) from Isabel, Xue Yan and Wen Fang. Love you guys. Shouldn't have spent so much, I know you all are broke. *hugs*



Super duper cuddly Eeyore plushie from apingnomiser and Ms Nga. Thanks for bothering to get a gift even though I said not to. =)

THANKS EVERYONE. I LOVE ALL YOUR GIFTS.

10 more minutes. I cannot believe I am actually getting pre-18 jitters.

Well, I went to watch it. It was good. I don't like jazz, but still found the music bearable. There were a handful of really good singers in the cast, and some parts were hilarious. My friend Leong the Backstage i/c must be really proud. I congratulate her, too, for a job well done. Hope everything goes as smoothly tomorrow, too. I saw Jane and Hashani, my ex-JC classmates among the cast. They performed their roles well. I saw someone walking around with a camera (similar to the one we used for DVPA, but not the same model, I think) and filming the audience, and couldn't help wondering if she was getting all the right angles and was holding the camera with a steady hand or not. Media student instincts.

Before the show started, Shauna (1st 3 mths JC friend) and I had a walk around the school to relive the memories we had in those 2 or 3 months we were in that college. I remember the non-air-conditioned classrooms (hadn't been in one of those for a long time; all classrooms are air-conditioned in SP. We are so blessed), which I surprisingly enjoyed being in more than I thought I would. The classrooms were not humid, and it was really quite comfortable to have lessons in them on breezy days. The non-air-conditioned classrooms also gave me an undescribable cosy feeling. And I remember the smell of the (new) lecture theatres, and I remember sitting in them, not really paying attention because I was still in the holiday mood. I remember some of the lecturers. My ex-GP lecturer, Miss Ng, was sitting beside me. She didn't recognise me and said I look very different now. Our human geog and physical geog lecturers (the latter liked to say "old chestnut" for some reason) were sitting in front of us, too. Sadly, we didn't get to see the very sweet and nice old Chinese lecturer, Mr. Zhang (he let us watch Spirited Away on one of the lessons), or the Econs lecturers, or the Literature lecturers.

Stepping into the JC once again made me think for a brief moment what it would have been like, had I decided to stay there one year ago. It was the only JC I considered going, both because it was so near my house and because it was a good JC with new facilities and dedicated lecturers. I didn't dwell on that thought because I'm happy where I am now. But it is in human nature to think about the "what if"s in our lives once in a while. I think it's good to indulge in such thoughts occasionally, provided that one eventually moves on and not get caught up in regrets and attempt to be happy wherever they are now.

A collossal THANK YOU to everyone who came to the chalet-let's not name names, shall we. Haha.

I am sincerely sorry if you guys didn't have enough fun or were very bored throughout, or felt left-out. I am a highly disorganised person who also finds it hard to divide attention amongst a group of people. Yes, that is my excuse. I don't expect my excuse to be accepted by everyone, but just know that I am deeply apologetic if that any of you found it dissatisfactory and a waste of time. I tried. Honest.

An even bigger thank you to Jia Hui, Andrew, Sharina and Timothy for helping with the barbecue. I truly wouldn't know what I would have done without you guys. To BK for housekeeping and helping to entertain. To Mandy, JN, Isabel, XY and WF for entertaining yourselves when I was busy. To Sabby for "flirting" with the cake shop auntie to get my cake, Aizat for choosing the cake, Sharina for choosing the cake (you guys were arguing over who chose the cake so I dunno who really did choose the cake). Oh, and for the extra bottles of drink and chips you guys bought. To Jia Ying, Andrew, BK and JN for staying both nights. To the class for being world-class at the entertainment of self and others. To Miss Kwa and Ms Nga for bothering to come and agreeing to stay awhile longer for phototaking. =)

Thanks, my friends, for giving me "face" and staying for as long as you could. =D I appreciate it a lot.

Alright now, just a flashy one before I gotta go check in to my chalet.

Information for whoever may need it:

Date: 3-5 May 2005
Venue: NSRCC or SAFRA Changi
Address: 10 Changi Coast Walk
How to get there: http://www.esrcc.com.sg/contact/location.html
Unit no.: 39

Hope everything goes well and everyone gets to enjoy themselves there as much as possible. *crosses fingers*

My friends called an hour ago while I was busy packing toiletries, asking if I bought sotong. When I said I didn't, Jawei expressed her utmost disappointment in me. I have such loving friends ;p .

Now off I go to strap my laptop up in its bag, chain it to my bed and paste a Post-it on it saying "Hands off.", just in case the fact that my laptop is password-protected doesn't deter my brat brothers from tinkering with it while I'm not around. *sniff* I'll miss you, Lappie.

Right. Ciao *dashes off, leaving swirling dust in my wake* (sorry, I'm feeling extraordinarily hyper and lame)